...Feb 16, 2013 Snow Event...

Event Synopsis...

An upper level trough moved across the region on Saturday February 16, 2013. The first round of precipitation associated with this upper trough moved through the Midlands and CSRA during the morning hours with mainly rain as the dominant precipitation type. However, there were reports of snow mixing in with the rain at times and some locations reported a changeover to all snow but most of the snow melted due to warm ground conditions.

Later in the afternoon the axis of the main upper trough moved across the Carolinas with very cold temperatures at 500 mb. Large difference in temperature from the lower levels to the upper levels of the atmosphere combined with significant dynamical forcing, provided enough instability and lift to support convection, as there were many locations that reported thundersnow.

The radar imagery during the event showed a band of precipitation that moved across mainly the northern and central Midlands late Saturday afternoon and early evening. Most of the precipitation associated with this more intense, second band fell in the form of snow across the northern Midlands, while the central Midlands saw a mixture of graupel, snow, sleet, and rain. Snowfall amounts within the snowband across the northern Midlands were generall around an inch or two, though some localized higher amounts were reported in parts of northern Lancaster and Chesterfield counties.